Negative pressure applied to a wound enhances drainage of fluids or exudate from the wound and promotes tissue growth and wound healing. This method of healing (known as “cupping”) was exercised since the times of ancient Greek physicians until the 19th century.
WO 96/05873 describes a therapeutic apparatus for stimulating healing of wounds. The apparatus comprises a porous foamed pad which is sealed on the wound and connected by a tube to an inlet of a canister. A vacuum pump is connected to an outlet of the canister. A bacterial filter positioned over the outlet of the canister protects the vacuum pump from contamination by wound drainage fluids sucked into the canister. The pump, the canister and control circuitry are disposed in a case.
WO 97/18007 discloses a portable wound treatment apparatus using a similar arrangement of a porous pad, canister and vacuum pump. The canister and the pump are in one housing which accommodates also the control circuitry and is wearable on a harness or a belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,862 describes a portable vacuum desiccator using a similar arrangement as above, the canister being formed as a cartridge containing a trapping agent (desiccator). The vacuum pump and the canister may be integrated and detachable from the pump motor and circuitry.
Current negative pressure wound drainage systems such as the ones described above suffer from the following deficiencies:
Since the negative pressure applied to the wound area is created by pump suction, the flow into the pump is likely to contaminate the pump, or conversely, to require costly and complex methods of isolating the pump from the wound exudate such as antibacterial filters.
The wound exudate is collected in a rigid canister, which must be large enough to prevent it from overflowing, and thus it is bulky and an inconvenient burden for ambulatory patients, who carry a portable system with them.
Conventional wound drainage systems utilize an air tight seal of the wound, which is helpful in obtaining and maintaining negative pressure, but requires a pressure relief or bleed valve to produce the pressure cycling desirable to obtain accelerated wound closure, as described in WO 96/05873.
A sealed wound dressing or enclosure, when under negative pressure, will promote migration of the exudate toward the negative pressure source, through the connecting tube, which may occlude, should the exudate coagulate.
The need to monitor and control the negative pressure level in conventional systems requires the use of a vacuum transducer, gage or relief valve, which must be connected to the suction tube, which is subject to contamination. Cleaning, disinfecting or isolating the negative pressure monitoring or controlling device are complex, costly and un-reliable.